Bloomington Normal Chess Club

Games of the Week

Game of the Week – June 9th, 2017

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.06.09"] [Round "?"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Malladi, Sadkrith"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "1900"] [BlackElo "1492"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2017.06.10"] [SourceDate "2017.06.10"] 1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. cxd4 e6 5. Nf3 d5 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. e5 Nd7 8. a3 Be7 9. Bd3 f6 10. O-O {Fritz says advantage now shifts to Black. After ef Nf6; 0-0 0-0 White still has the first move advantage. I was already planning to sacrifice something for an attack.} fxe5 11. Nxe5 O-O {Fritz says Black is better to capture twice on e5} 12. Nxd7 {eliminating the knight that can join the defense. Fritz would prefer to take the other knight or immediately Qh5.} Bxd7 13. Qh5 {Hoping for h6 14. Bh6 On g6; Bg6 hg; Qg6 is a perpetual check draw. I don’t want a draw.} g6 14. Qd1 {Advantage shifts back to Black. On Nd4 I was planning Bg6 Nf3+; gf hg; Kh1 to use the g-file for my rook. This is not a good plan. Fritz says Nd4; Be3.} Bg5 {I thought that was a reasonable move. Fritz calls it a blunder. My Be3 response leaves Black a very small advantage. Fritz says trade bishops and play Bb5.} 15. Be3 Bf6 16. Ne2 {Increasing Black’s advantage, but again I am planning to sacrifice for an attack. Fritz does not like my sacrifice.} Qb6 17. Nf4 Bxd4 18. Nxg6 Rf6 { Fritz says take the piece. There’s no attack.} 19. Qg4 hxg6 20. Bxg6 Kf8 {Be3. Make White prove he has something worth a piece} 21. Bh6+ Ke7 22. Bg5 Ne5 { That was the knight I thought could not join the defense!} 23. Qh5 Nxg6 24. Qxg6 Raf8 25. Rad1 Bxf2+ {White cannot take. Rf2 Qf2+; Kh1 Kd6 threatens Qf1 forcing mate. But Black’s move is actually not best. Bb5 now is a killer move.} 26. Kh1 Bb5 {But now it’s a blunder, and I completely missed it. The bishop needed to retreat to d5 to protect the rook. Now Qg7+ Kd6 (Rf7; Bf6+) Bf6 Rf6; Qf6 Bf1; Rf1 leaves White an exchange ahead! Qg7+ Kd6; (Rf7 Bf6+) Bf6 Rf6; Qf6 Bf1; Rf1 leaves White an exchange ahead, says Fritz. That doesn’t work with the bishop on d4 and I did not realize that after Bf5.} 27. Qh7+ R8f7 28. Bxf6+ Kxf6 29. Qh4+ Kg7 30. Qg5+ Kf8 31. Qh6+ {Rc1 is a last chance. Fritz calls for Rc1 Bc4; b3 Be3; Rf7+ Kf7 and Black will escape the checks and the attack on White’s rook saves Black’s bishop.} Ke7 32. Qg5+ Kd7 33. Qg8 Re7 34. Rxd5+ {desperation. I’m also out of time. Rc1 is better, but not good enough,} exd5 35. Qxd5+ Kc8 36. Qf5+ Bd7 37. Rc1+ Kb8 38. Qc2 Bc6 39. h3 Bg3 40. Qc3 Qe3 {Time 0:1. A very nice game by Black.} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Game of the Week – August 15th, 2017

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.08.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Bayyarapu, Mohit"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C34"] [WhiteElo "1142"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2017.08.15"] [SourceDate "2017.08.15"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. d4 {G/15. This move was played too fast. d3 or e5.} Nxe4 6. Bd2 Nxd2 7. Qxd2 O-O 8. Be2 Bxc3 9. Qxc3 d5 {Now I’m playing too fast. Re8 hinders White’s castling.} 10. O-O Re8 11. Ne5 { blunder. Bd3} f6 12. Rxf4 fxe5 13. dxe5 Nc6 {Fritz likes Qe7. I saw Qe7; Raf Qe5; Qe5 Re5; Rf8 mate! and decided to develop some pieces.} 14. Qf3 Rxe5 15. Re1 {Rf1 or Bb5.} Qe7 16. Rf1 {Nice defense! The mate on f8 protects White’s bishop!} Bd7 17. Bd3 Re8 {A very bad move. Now Rf7 Qe6??; Rf8 mates!} 18. h3 Qc5+ {I had intended Nd8 to protect f7. That’s a much better move. Now h4 is not protected by the queen which allows the sacrifice.} 19. Kh2 Nd8 20. c4 {I thought this was a good move since dc; Bc4+ Kh8; Rf8+ leads to mate, but I missed Be6 instead of Kh8.} Ne6 21. Bxh7+ {Kh7; Rh4+ leads to mate} Kh8 22. Rh4 Rf8 {Qe7 attacks the bishop. Fritz shows Qd6; Bf5+ (the bishop must block the Black rook from Rh5 with a queen check!) Kg8; Bh7+ with perpetual check. Or Qe7; Qg4 g5; Rf7 Qf7; Bg6+ gh; Bf7 Rf8; Qg6 with a crushing advantage for White.} (22... Qe7 23. Qg4 g5 24. Rf7 Qxf7 25. Bg6+ gxh4 26. Bxf7 Rf8 27. Qg6) 23. Bg6+ Kg8 24. Bf7+ Rxf7 25. Qxf7# 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Game of the Week – September 15th, 2017

[Event "Casual Game"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.09.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Malladi, Sadkrith"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "1900"] [BlackElo "1627"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2017.09.15"] [SourceDate "2017.09.15"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Qxd4 {Fritz likes either cd4 or Nd4, but I have played this before and like the resulting positions.} Nc6 7. Qe4 d6 8. Bc4 dxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Qxe5 Qd6 11. Qxd6 Bxd6 12. O-O {I had planned Bd5 giving Black a permanent weakness on the d-file, but I forgot. I was not playing my match with Mihir Bafna because I was exhausted. I had been in Indiana all week because my sister was sick. I agreed to play this quick game instead…} Bd7 {Fritz prefers b6 with Bb7 to follow, but still gives Black a slight advantage with this. I think Nb6 would be much better.} 13. Bxd5 exd5 14. Rd1 Be6 15. Be3 {Fritz likes this move. I saw c4 000 (Black’s pawn is pinned); cd Bd5; Rd5 Bh2+ when I lose my rook. Only after Be3 did I think: so what? I have won two bishops for rook and pawn. Advantage to me.} O-O 16. Nd2 Rfd8 17. Nb3 b6 18. Nd4 Bc5 19. b4 Bxd4 20. Bxd4 {White’s last move restored equality and now White has the traditional first move advantage again. Black’s bishop should have retreated.} Re8 21. a4 Bg4 22. f3 Bf5 23. a5 b5 24. Bc5 Be6 25. Rd4 {Second choice for Fritz. He prefers a6, but I saw bishop and rook ganging up on that pawn. All of Black’s pieces get tied down, but I did not see how White would win.} a6 26. Kf2 f6 27. Rad1 Bf7 28. h3 Rac8 {During the game, I was watching for a rook sacrifice on c5 with the second rook picking up a pawn and attacking c3. An appropriate position never quite materialized.} 29. g3 Rc6 30. R1d2 Re5 31. f4 Re8 {Not Re4 when I trade rooks and play Rd8 winning the bishop} 32. g4 g6 33. R4d3 Re4 34. Kf3 Rc8 35. Rd4 Rce8 36. Rxe4 Rxe4 37. Rd4 Re1 38. Rd3 Kg7 39. Bd4 Re4 ( 39... Be6 40. g5 Bxh3 41. Bxf6+ Kf7 42. Rxd5 h5) 40. g5 Be6 41. Bxf6+ Kf7 42. h4 {Played without thinking. White should be happy to trade the h-pawn for the d-pawn. Fritz likes Bh8 to prevent h5 which is what Black should play now or on several later moves.} Re1 43. Kg2 {Defending. Fritz says Rd2 Rh1; Ke3 heading for the queen-side.} Re2+ 44. Kg3 Re1 45. Rd2 Re3+ 46. Kg2 Bf5 {On Rh3 Rd5 is much better for White. Black is hoping for Rd5 Be4} 47. Kf2 {It was 9:30 and this unrated game with no clock was the last game still going. I offered a draw.} 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Game of the Week – October 20th, 2017

[Event "Casual Game"] [Site "Bloomington, IL"] [Date "2017.10.20"] [Round "?"] [White "Malladi, Sadkrith"] [Black "Smith, Jeffrey"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "1669"] [BlackElo "1350"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2016.10.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Bf5 5. Bg2 {Nc3. Now Black can win a pawn with BxN; RxN Qa5+ and Qa2} e6 (5... Bxb1 6. Rxb1 Qa5+ 7. Bd2 Qxa2 8. Ra1 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa2 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Ra1 Qb2 12. Rb1 Qa3 13. Rxb7 Qa6 14. Qb1 Nbd7 { says Fritz with slight advantage to Black.}) 6. O-O Bb4 {Fritz gives Black a small advantage after just dc on any of the next 3 moves. White could now gain some free moves by attacking this bishop.} 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Bg5 Be7 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Rc1 Nc6 11. a3 a6 12. b4 b5 {Fritz says Rc8 or h6.} 13. Nxb5 {Fritz counts this an error! He likes Bf6 Bf6; Nd5 Qd5; Ne5 when the long diagonal makes itself felt.} axb5 {Nb4 feels better. White’s pawn looks weaker than Black’s. Fritz disagrees, giving … Nb4; Nc3 Nc6; Qa4 with a small advantage to White, where he gives Black a small advantage after … ab5} 14. Rxc6 Rxa3 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Qd2 Qd7 {Fritz says go for the pawn with Be7 and Ra4.} 17. Rfc1 {Wrong rook. Fritz agrees, shifting a small advantage back to White. Fritz offers as his second move Ra1, trading the a-rook for the c-rook.} Raa8 18. Ne5 {And Fritz shifts advantage back to Black as White accepts this permanent weakness. Qc3 or Rc7.} Bxe5 19. dxe5 Qb7 {Allowing Qc3 with absolute domination of the c-file. Equality was achieved by either Rc8.} 20. Qd4 Rac8 21. Qc5 Rxc6 22. Qxc6 Qxc6 23. Rxc6 Rb8 {Rook mobility is critical in rook endings. Ra8 has the threat of Ra1+; Bf1 Bh3 – but remember that Black is also threatened with mate so after, perhaps f3 Kf8 White gets to strike first with Rb6. So Black must, for the moment, remain passive.} 24. e3 {Now the Black bishop will be able to protect b5. And who will protect b4? Keep your pawns on the same color as the opponent’s bishop to limit its mobility. f3 followed by Kf2-e3-d4-c5. Fritz saw an idea here that I did not see: Bf1 and then e3.} Bd3 25. Bf1 Bc4 {Now if White trades Black gets a supported passed pawn.} 26. f4 Kf8 27. Kf2 Ra8 28. Bxc4 bxc4 29. b5 Rb8 {Fritz marks this as an error. Too passive. Ra2+ and take the h-pawn.} 30. b6 Ke8 31. Ke2 Rb7 32. Kd2 {Fritz wanted e4 last move and this move to weaken Black’s pawns, and counts Kd2 an error.} Kd7 33. Rd6+ Kc8 {Ke7. Black is well aware of the difference between his rook and White’s rook. He wants the king at b7 so the rook can do something. It’s too late for that. Build a fortress with the King at e7/d7. White’s king won’t be able to come help because that would free Black’s c-pawn.} 34. Kc3 Rd7 35. Kd4 Re7 {If Black trades rooks then his king can’t stop both pawns.} 36. Kc3 {Fritz suggests e4 now. I never considered that, but it is an obvious way to make progress since there would be no passed Black pawns left.} Kb7 {Fritz says Rd7 and make White prove he has something. This give White another chance for e4} 37. Kd4 {Kc8 with equality, says Fritz. Instead White now has another chance to play e4. (Which I still did not see)} Ka6 38. Rc6 Rb7 39. Kc5 Ka5 {c3 with equality – White will have to trade the b-pawn for the c-pawn.} 40. Rc8 {And that, says Fritz, is a blunder. e4 or f5 to undermine the Black pawns.} Rxb6 41. Ra8+ Ra6 42. Rb8 c3 {too soon. Ra7 or Ka4 to defend the pawn when it does advance.} 43. Rb1 Ka4 44. Ra1+ Kb3 45. Rxa6 c2 46. Ra1 Kb2 47. Rh1 c1=Q+ 48. Rxc1 Kxc1 49. Kd4 {Much too passive. Kd6. Counting moves, White can play Kd6-e7-f7-e6-f7 and e6-e7-e8/Q. That’s 8 moves. Black can play Kd2-e3 and d4-d3-d2-d1/Q. That’s only 6 moves. White gains moves, says Fritz, by playing} (49. Kd6 Kd2 50. Ke7 Kxe3 51. Kxf7 d4 52. f5 d3 53. fxe6 d2 54. e7 d1=Q 55. e8=Q) 49... Kd2 50. e4 dxe4 51. Kxe4 Ke2 52. g4 {f5 is equal. This is a blunder. Black wins with Kf2. G6 also favors Black.} f6 (52... Kf2 53. f5 Kg2 54. fxe6 fxe6 55. Kd4 Kf3 56. g5 Kg4) 53. h4 {And White, in turn, misses the win. ef6 ef6 and then h4 when White has no weaknesses and Black has no counterplay.} fxe5 54. Kxe5 Kf3 {and from here the game remains even.} 55. g5 Kg4 56. Kxe6 Kxf4 57. Kf7 Kg4 58. Kxg7 Kxh4 59. Kxh7 Kxg5 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Dennis – Joe Game

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.05.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Bourgerie, Dennis"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D41"] [WhiteElo "1765"] [BlackElo "1900"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2019.05.01"] [SourceDate "2019.05.01"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 Nc6 { Fritz says trade pawns now or White will play d5} 8. Bd3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 {Fritz prefers 0-0 or Bc5} Qa5 11. O-O {Losing a pawn. Fritz likes a3 or Bb4} Bxd2 12. Nxd2 Nxd4 13. Nc4 Qd8 14. Qa4+ {Fritz likes Qg4 instead of losing a piece} b5 15. Qb4 bxc4 16. Bxc4 Qb6 17. Qa3 Bd7 18. Rab1 Qc7 19. Rfc1 Rb8 20. Ra1 {Fritz says Rb8+ or Ba6} Qb6 21. h3 {Eliminating the threat of back rank mate, for example Rab Qb1; Rb1 Rb1; Bf1 Ne2+; Kh1 Rf1 mate} Nc6 22. Rd1 Qb4 23. Qd3 Qe7 24. Rd2 {Planning to triple major pieces on the d-file. Fritz prefers Bb5 or Rac} Rd8 25. Rad1 Ne5 {Fritz likes 0-0 now. Even better, he says, is e5 with Nd4 to follow.} 26. Qd4 Nxc4 27. Qxc4 {I saw that this dropped the bishop, but I thought I was getting the a-pawn in return. Fritz says g5 or Rg8. He sees, as I did not, that I don’t have to 0-0 to free the second rook.} O-O 28. Qc7 Qa3 29. Rxd7 Rxd7 30. Rxd7 Qxa2 31. Rd8 {If Qa7 then Qb1+ forks the e-pawn. Now White threatens Qe7, which I hurry to block. Fritz says Qb1+; Kh2 Qb6 with advantage} Qa3 {and that’s a draw after Rf8 Qf8; Qa7 An excellent game by Dennis a piece down} 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Dennis vs Joe Round 2

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "?"] [Round "?"] [White "Bourgerie, Dennis"] [Black "Alford, Joseph"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Be2 Qa5 10. Qd2 Nc6 11. Rd1 {Fritz likes Rb1} cxd4 {Almost certainly premature. Black can prepare for this with Rd8 and Bg4. Fritz agrees, giving Black a tiny edge after either of those moves and giving White the advantage after 0-0} 12. cxd4 Qxd2+ 13. Rxd2 Bg4 14. O-O Rfd8 15. d5 Ne5 { Fritz sees immediately that this loses a pawn. Na5.} 16. Nxe5 Bxe2 17. Nxf7 Bxf1 18. Nxd8 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Rxd8 20. Bxa7 e6 21. d6 Be5 {Rd7 The passed pawn must be restrained.} 22. d7 Bc7 23. Be3 Kf7 24. Bg5 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Dennis vs Joe Round 3

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "?"] [Round "?"] [White "Alford, Joseph"] [Black "Bourgerie, Dennis"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Joseph Alford"] 1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 e6 {Fritz claims equality after either Nc6 or d6} 6. Nc3 {Fritz says Nc3 is just as good as Nf3.} Nxc3 7. bxc3 d6 8. f4 {Perhaps a bit overly-optimistic} dxe5 9. fxe5 Qh4+ 10. Kd2 Bd7 11. Nf3 Qf4+ 12. Kc2 {Equal. White remains better with Ke1} Qe4+ 13. Qd3 { Fritz likes Bd3 Ba4+; Kd2 Qc6; Qe2} Ba4+ 14. Kd2 Qd5 15. Qc4 Qd7 16. Rb1 g6 { Fritz prefers a6 or even b5.} 17. Qxa4 {Now Black’s last wins the bishop on c1. After Bh6+ White must avoid the white squares which leaves the bishop unprotected after the coming exchanges. Ke1 maintained a White advantage.} Qxa4 18. Bb5+ Qxb5 19. Rxb5 b6 20. Rf1 Be7 21. Kd3 h6 22. Nd2 O-O 23. Ne4 Kg7 24. a4 Nc6 25. Nf6 Rfd8 26. Ke4 Rac8 27. Ng4 Bg5 {I did not like that move. Fritz suggests g5 or h5} 28. Bxg5 hxg5 29. Nf6 Ne7 30. Rf3 Rc7 {Fritz does not like allowing a5, suggesting g4; Ng4 Nd5 and Black can gang up on the c-pawn.} 31. a5 bxa5 32. Rxa5 Rdc8 33. Rg3 {I saw Rh3 Rc3; Rh7+ Kf8 but I missed the continuation Ra7. Saw only Rh8+ Kg7; Rh7+ with a draw.} Rxc3 34. Rxc3 Rxc3 35. Rxa7 Nf5 {I totally missed the mate on e3} 36. Ng4 Rc4 {Fritz likes Rc1; Ra4 Re1+; Kd3 Rd1+; Ke4 with a draw.} 37. Rd7 Rc2 38. d5 {Totally forgetting that the h-pawn is protected. g3, says Fritz.} Rc4+ 39. Kd3 Rd4+ 40. Kc3 Rxd5 {I expected RxN which I thought was a win despite Rf7+. Fritz calls Rxd5 a blunder since RxN is so much better.} 41. Rxd5 exd5 42. Nf6 Ne7 {I expected Ne3 when I think g4 is sufficient to draw.} 43. Kd4 Nf5+ 44. Kd3 {Fritz says Kd5 Ne3+ and Ng2 is also a draw} Ne7 45. g4 Nc6 46. Nd7 Kg8 47. Ke3 Kg7 48. Kd3 Kg8 {Black’s king cannot escape. The game is drawn.} 1/2-1/2 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.